TCM syndrome differentiation in colorectal cancer patients assisted by differences in gut microbiota: An exploratory study.

Objective: To explore the difference in gut microbiota between different traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndromes in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and its internal relationship. Methods: From June 2020 to August 2021, 109 colorectal cancer patients with a clear pathological diagnosis who had not yet undergone surgery or chemotherapy were classified according to the TCM syndrome classification, and the feces samples of 109 patients with preoperative colorectal cancer were collected. 16s rRNA gene sequencing was used to determine gut microbiota diversity and abundance in CRC patients with different TCM syndrome, and LEfSe analysis was made to screen different TCM syndrome for differential representative microbiota. Results: 109 patients were divided into 5 syndromes by TCM syndrome classification, which were Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency Syndrome (LKYDS, n = 19), Spleen Deficient Qi Stagnation Syndrome (SDQSS, n = 30), Stasis and Poison Obstruction Syndrome (SPOS, n = 17), Damp-Heat Syndrome (DHS, n = 30), Qi and Blood Deficiency Syndrome (QBDS, n = 13). Alpha diversity index showed significant differences among the five groups of TCM syndromes, with Shannon index being highest in the SDQSS group and lowest in the LKYDS (p = 0.003). ACE index being highest in the SDQSS group and lowest in the SPOS (p = 0.010). PD whole tree index being highest in the SDQSS group and lowest in the SPOS (p = 0.017). Similarly, beta diversity showed significant differences among the five groups of TCM syndromes, with principal coordinate analysis (PCo1 = 31.86 %, PCo2 = 5.62 %) showing separation and coincidence between the groups, and Adonis group differences showing coincidence between the QBDS-LKYDS (p = 0.702), QBDS-DHS (p = 0.133), and SDQSS-DHS (p = 0.260) groups. LEfSe analysis revealed that the representative microbiota of DHS patients was Dialister sp Marseille P5638 (LDA = 3.05, p＜0.001), the representative microbiota of SPOS patients was Oscillospirales (LDA = 4.78, p = 0.029), the representative microbiota of SDQSS patients was Selenomonadaceae (LDA = 3.94, p = 0.003), the representative microbiota of LKYDS patients was Dialister (LDA = 4.19, p = 0.001), and the representative microbiota of QBDS patients was Akkermansia muciniphila (LDA = 4.23, p = 0.006). Conclusions: There are significant differences in gut microbiota between different TCM syndromes in CRC patients. The five microbiota, Dialister sp Marseille P5638, Oscillospirales, Selenomonadaceae, Dialister, and Akkermansia muciniphila, may be differential markers of TCM syndrome in CRC and are expected to be one of the bases for accurate TCM syndrome differentiation of CRC.

Category of Chinese medicine registration:historical evolution,current status,and problems / 中国中药杂志

The development of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) has always been highly valued and supported since 1949. However, Chinese medicine industry still faces great challenges in view of the current status of the industry and registration and approval of new products in recent years. Related policies also directly influence the development of the industry. The latest version of the Provisions for Drug Registration and Requirement on Registration Classification and Application Information of Traditional Chinese Medicines have been put into practice since 2020. Registration classification is the core content of the Chinese medicine registration management system, as it is closely related to the research, development, and registration of Chinese medicine and the innovative development of the industry. This article aims to systematically review the historical evolution of the category of Chinese medicine registration and analyze the current status and problems, which is expected to provide a reference for the formulation of supporting documents according to related laws and regulations.

Thoughts on path of R&D and registration of innovative traditional Chinese medicine with synchronous transformation of "series prescriptions" / 中国中药杂志

Since the implementation of drug registration in China, the classification of Chinese medicine has greatly met the needs of public health and effectively guided the transformation, inheritance, and innovation of research achievements on traditional Chinese medicine(TCM). In the past 30 years, the development of new Chinese medicine has followed the registration transformation model of " one prescription for single drug". This model refers to the R&D and registration system of modern drugs, and approximates to the " law-abiding" medication method in TCM clinic, while it rarely reflects the sequential therapy of syndrome differentiation and comprehensive treatment with multiple measures. In 2017, Opinions on Deepening the Reform of Review and Approval System and Encouraging the Innovation of Drugs and Medical Devices released by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council pointed out that it is necessary to " establish and improve the registration and technical evaluation system in line with the characteristics of Chinese medicine, and handle the relationship between the traditional advantages of Chinese medicine and the requirements of modern drug research". Therefore, based on the development law and characteristics of TCM, clinical thinking should be highlighted in the current technical requirements and registration system of research and development of Chinese medicine. Based on the current situation of registration supervision of Chinese medicine and the modern drug research in China, the present study analyzed limitations and deficiency of " one prescription for single drug" in the research and development of Chinese medicine. Additionally, a new type of " series prescriptions" was proposed, which was consistent with clinical thinking and clinical reality. This study is expected to contribute to the independent innovation and high-quality development of the TCM industry.

Enlightenments of Padma Circosan Capsules to registration of compound Chinese materia medica products in European Union / 中草药

The European Union (EU) law 2004/24/EC has simplified the registration of traditional herbal medicines, which makes it possible for Chinese materia medica (CMM) to enter the EU as medicines. To register CMM products in the EU is an important way to realize the internationalization of CMM. Compound combination is the main clinical application form of CMM under the guidance of CMM syndrome differentiation. How to register compound CMM products in EU has become one of the important realistic topics for the internationalization of CMM. A total of 630 applications for traditional herbal medicinal products have been approved by the EU member states since the implementation of the Directive 2004/24/EC in 2005. Among these products, Padma Circosan Capsules was the only approved one originated from CMM area. The course of this product lead us with the enlightenment for the compound CMM products in three aspects: The literatures and evidence about safety and traditional use of "related product" are the core components in the non-clinical and clinical application materials for the registration of both combination and mono-component CMM products; The traditional application and safety evidence of "related products" as well as the relevant materials and data of EU monograph constitute the important content for the registration and approval of compound CMM products in EU member states; Applicants should pay more attention to the study of genotoxicity and the systematic collection of post-marketing pharmacovigilance data.

Analysis on value of Community Herbal Monograph in registration of traditional Chinese medicinal products in Europe / 中草药

The Community Herbal Monograph (CHM) is an official document which reflects the scientific opinion of European Medicines Agency (EMA) and plays an important role in technical harmonization of the herbal medicinal products. The role of CHM is very similar with the centralized procedure in the EU level as it represents the technical coordination results of the assessment about safety and efficacy of herbal medicine. The monograph and national procedure, decentralized procedure, and mutual recognition procedure together constitute the coexistence characteristic of centralization and decentralization of the EU medical legislation. The CHM and the traditional herbal medicine registration also constitute the core content of Directive 2004/24/EC in the EU and member state level respectively. And the CHM plays an important role in the registration of traditional herbal medicinal products in the EU member state. However, it has not yet been fully studied by domestic experts and scholars. This paper makes intensive studies on the value of CHM and analyzes the application of monograph in traditional herbal medicine registration. The purpose is to clarify the value and importance of CHM in the registration of traditional Chinese medicine in EU and to provide reference for the Chinese enterprises which are aspiring to open up the EU market.

Analysis of difficult problems on European Union laws and regulations of traditional herbal medicinal products / 中国中药杂志

Registration of Chinese patent medicine in European Union (EU) is of great significance to the internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine as EU market acts as an important position in the global botanical market. In retrospect, the domestic studies on EU regulations of traditional herbal medicinal products have been conducted for more than 10 years, but there is still some cognitive bias and lack of research. In this paper, a review of the relevant research progress and the main misunderstanding problems about Directive 2004/24/EC, like the centralized and decentralized supervision system of traditional herbal medicinal products in the EU, marketing authorization procedures for traditional herbal medicinal products, Community Herbal Monograph and List Entries, would be systematically analyzed, so as to provide reference for the registration of Chinese patent medicine in EU.

Efficacy and safety of Saw Palmetto Extract Capsules in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the efficacy and safety of Saw Palmetto Extract Capsules in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We conducted a multi-centered open clinical study on 165 BPH patients treated with Saw Palmetto Extract Capsules at a dose of 160 mg qd for 12 weeks. At the baseline and after 6 and 12 weeks of medication, we compared the International Prostate Symptom Scores (IPSS), prostate volume, postvoid residual urine volume, urinary flow rate, quality of life scores (QOL), and adverse events between the two groups of patients.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the baseline, both IPSS and QOL were improved after 6 weeks of medication, and at 12 weeks, significant improvement was found in IPSS, QOL, urinary flow rate, and postvoid residual urine. Mild stomachache occurred in 1 case, which necessitated no treatment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Saw Palmetto Extract Capsules were safe and effective for the treatment of BPH.</p>

Marketing approaches and regulation analysis for Chinese materia medica products in European Union / 中草药

As European Union (EU) is one of the largest herbal markets in the world, EU registration is an important way for the internationalization of Chinese materia medica products. According to the current EU legislation, Chinese materia medica products can access to the EU market in the form of food supplements, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices. This article discusses the main EU marketing approaches related regulations such as application of food supplements, well-established use (WEU), and traditional use (TU) of medicine. The purpose is to clarify the feasible way of EU registration for Chinese materia medica products and to provide reference for the Chinese enterprises which are aspiring to open up the EU market.

Key issues in registration of Chinese materia medica in European Union based on "Community Herbal Monograph" / 中草药

The European Legislation Directive 2004/24/EC introduced a simplified registration procedure for traditional herbal medicinal products, which has largely reduced the difficulty of registration for herbal medicinal products. The traditional Chinese medicinal products still face a lot of challenges such as 15-year minimum medicinal use requirements in the European Union (EU) and limited self-medication indication categories and administration modes. As the criteria for a Community Herbal Monograph assessment is in many aspects similar to assessment of safety and efficacy aspects in the registration of a traditional herbal medicinal product, this article has made a systematic evaluation of the latest assessment of Community Herbal Monograph and presented the key issues in traditional Chinese medicinal product registration based on a Community Herbal Monograph perspective. The results from this article will ultimately contribute to supporting and assisting the non-European traditional herbal medicinal product registration in EU.

A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method for determination of actinoside E in rat plasma and application to a pharmacokinetic study / 中国天然药物

A highly sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of actinoside E in rat plasma. The analytes were extracted by ethyl acetate and an analogue of actinoside F was used as the internal standard. The mobile phase consisted of methanol-water (50: 50, V/V) containing 0.1% formic acid was delivered at a flow rate of 0.3 mL·min(-1) to a Zorbax SB-C18 column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 3.5 μm). The detection was performed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in the negative multiple reaction monitoring mode with a chromatograph run time of 3.0 min. Calibration curves of actinoside E were linear in the range of 0.5-2 500 ng·mL(-1). In this range, intra- and inter-day precision ranged from 1.7% to 7.5% and 2.0% to 8.9%, respectively. The accuracy ranged from 95.7% to 108.6%, and extraction recovery from 83.2% to 85.5%. This method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of actinoside E in rats after intravenous (5 mg·kg(-1)) and oral (100 mg·kg(-1)) administration, and the results showed that actinoside E was poorly absorbed with an absolute bioavailability being approximately 0.27%.

Primary culture of rat hippocampal neurons and detection of the neuronal excitability / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To improve the efficiency of primary culture of hippocampal neurons and obtain highly purified neurons with good in vitro growth and minimal risk of contamination.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The hippocampal neurons of neonatal Wistar rats were isolated and the single cell suspension was prepared by mechanical trituration and sedimentation in stead of trypsin digestion and filteration. Twenty-four hours after the cell plating, the culture medium was removed and replaced by serum-free DMEM/F12 with B27 supplementation. Half of the culture medium was changed 2-3 times every week. The morphological changes of the neurons were observed under inverted phase-contrast microscope. Immunofluorescence staining for NSE was performed to identify the neurons, and the purity of neurons was calculated. The hippocampal neurons were stained with calcium-sensitive fluorescent dye to monitor the effect of KCl on neuronal excitability by a calcium imaging system.</p><p><b>RESULTS AND CONCLUSION</b>This simplified method is time-saving and cost-effective for primary culture of hippocampal neurons with reduced risk of contamination, and the neurons obtained showed high uniformity, purity and long-term viability.</p>

Effect of herba schizonepetae volatile oil (STO) on activity of 5-lipoxygenase in rat thoracic cavity leukocytes / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of herba schizonepetae volatile oil (STO) on the activity of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO), so as to elucidate its mechanisms of anti-inflammatory action which is related to the arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Thoracic cavity leukocytes from the pleurisy model rat induced by injecting 1%-carrageenan into the pleural cavity were collected. Then 0. 4 mL cell suspension including 2 x 10(7) cells per millilitre were used as the reaction system in vitro. STO in different concentrations (final concentration 0.011, 0.022, 0.043, 0.087, 0.179, 0.255, 0.364 g x L(-1)), zileuton (final concentration 0.625 x 10(-3) g x L(-1)), and DMSO in the same volume were added into the reaction tube respectively. The reaction tubes were incubated at 37 degrees C for 20 min and CaCl2 (final concentration 2 mmol x L(-1)), MgCl2 (final concentration 0.5 mmol x L(-1)), exogenous AA (final concentration 200 micromol x L(-1)) and A23187 (final concentration 5 micromol x L(-1)) were added in turns during this period. The reaction tubes were mixed and continuously incubated at 37 degrees C for 30 min. After terminating reaction by adding methanol, the metabolites of 5-LO, leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and 5-hydroxy-6, 8, 11, 14-eicosatetraenoic acid (5-HETE), were extracted, separated and detected by means of RP-HPLC.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Compared with control group, STO significantly inhibited the biosynthesis of LTB4 and 5-HETE at final concentration between 0. 022 g x L(-1) and 0.364 g x L(-1) (P < 0.05 or 0.001) in dose dependence manner, and its IC50 value was 0.124 g x L(-1) and 0.142 g x L(-1) for LTB4 and 5-HETE, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>STO can inhibited the activity of 5-LO, which is an important enzyme of AA metabolism, in rat thoracic cavity leukocytes in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. It is suggested that the mechanism of anti-inflammatory action of STO is related to its inhibiting the activity of 5-LO and decreasing the level of major inflammatory mediators LTB4.</p>

Effects of early intervention on learning and memory in young rats of marginal vitamin A deficiency and it's mechanism / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>In recent years, some experiments on vitamin A-deprived animals reveal a progressive and ultimately profound impairment of hippocampal CA1 area's long-term potentiation and these losses are fully reversible by dietary vitamin A replenishment in vivo. Our previous study revealed that marginal vitamin A deficiency (MVAD) beginning from embryonic period impairs learning, memory and long-term potentiation (LTP) in young rats. But the losses might not be reversible if the vitamin A supplementation is late, especially when the critical period of hippocampus development is missed. The present study aimed to observe the recovery of learning and memory in vitamin A marginally deficient young rats after early intervention with vitamin A supplementation and begin to study the mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Rats were divided into control, MVAD, vitamin A intervention 1 (VAI1) and VAI2 groups in this study. In control group (10 young rats) the dams and pups were fed with normal diet (VA 6500 U/kg). In MVAD group (19 young rats) the dams and pups were fed with MVAD diet (VA 400 U/kg). In VAI1 group (10 young rats) the dams were fed with MVAD diet till day 14 of pregnancy, then were fed with normal diet and the pups were fed with normal diet. In VAI2 group (13 young rats) the dams were fed with MVAD diet till delivery, then were fed with normal diet and the pups were fed with normal diet too. All the young rats were killed at the age of 7 weeks. During the last week of the experiment, the shuttle box active avoidance reaction tests were carried out. At week 7, the hippocampal CA1 LTP was detected by electrophysiological technique. The expression of RAR-alpha, RAR-beta, RXR-beta, RXR-gamma, RC3 and tTG mRNA was detected by using semi-quantified RT-PCR in hippocampus.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) The times to reach the learning standard in MVAD group (45.6 +/- 12.1) were more than those in control group (17.1 +/- 4.4) (P < 0.01), in both VAI1 group (20.8 +/- 3.1) and VAI2 group (22.1 +/- 4.0) were more than those in group MVAD (P < 0.01), and there were no significant differences among groups VAI1, VAI2 and control (P > 0.05) in active avoidance reaction tests. (2) The changes of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSP) slope for MVAD group [(22.9 +/- 9.4)%] and VAI2 group [(39.1 +/- 4.33)%] were less than that of control group [(57.5 +/- 27.3)%], respectively (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found between VAI1 and control group (P > 0.05). (3) The expression of RAR-beta and RXR-beta mRNA decreased by 48.72% and 37.84% respectively (P < 0.05) compared with control, but the expression of RAR-beta mRNA in group VAI1 was higher than that in group MVAD (P = 0.065). The expression of RC3 mRNA in MVAD group was lower than that in control (P = 0.061) and RAR-alpha mRNA in MVAD group was higher than that in control (P = 0.061). The expression of RXR-gamma and tTG mRNA had no significant difference among different groups as determined with semi-quantified RT-PCR in hippocampus.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Early vitamin A intervention may make the impaired learning and memory behavior due to marginal vitamin A deficiency recover to the normal level in young rats, but lip losses in group VAI2 might not be reversible. Vitamin A may modulate the expression of RC3 mRNA by affecting RAR-alpha, RAR-beta and RXR-beta to influence the LTP, learning and memory.</p>

Interventional effects of biscuits fortified with different doses of vitamin A on the vitamin A status in children of 3-6 years old / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: Vitamin A deficiency disorders (VADD) is a healthy problem of children in the world, especially in the west of China and remote areas, and the nutritional intervention is needed.OBJECTIVE: To compare the improved effects of biscuits fortified with three different doses of vitamin A on the vitamin A status in children aged 3-6 years and explore ap ideal dose of vitamin A supplement for preventing VADD.DESIGN: Randomized controlled observation.SETTING: Health Surveillance Institute, Chongqing Municipal Health Bureau; Staff Room of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, College of Public Health, Chongqing University of Medical Sciences; Center for Children Nutrition, Children's Hospital, Chongqing University of Medical Sciences.PARTICIPANTS: The investigation was done between March and December 2002. 753 children aged 3-6 years from 8 kindergartens in Banan district of Chongqing city were enrolled with the agreement of their guardians. They were divided randomly into 4 groups: 30% recommended intake group, 100% recommended intake group, 20 000 international unit (IU) and 200 000 IU groups.METHODS: ① The biscuits fortified with 30% recommended intake of vitamin A (500 IU) were once given to people of the 30% recommended intake group (177 cases) every day. ②The biscuits fortified with 100% recommended intake of vitamin A (1666 IU) were once given to people of the 100% recommended intake group (173 cases) every day. ③The biscuits fortified with 20 000 IU of vitamin A were once given to people of the 20 000 IU group (209 cases) every week. ④The soft gelatin capsule with 200 000 IU of vitamin A were once given to people of the 200 000 IU group (194 cases).Height, body mass, serum retinal, prealbumin, haematoglobin and retinal binding protein of all children were measured before intervention and after intervention for 3 months. Above indexes were rechecked after supplement for 9 months in 87 children of 30% recommended intake groupMAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ①Prevalence rate of VADD before in-tervention and after intervention for 3 months in children of every group.② Serum retinal, serum prealbumin, serum retinal binding protein,haematoglobin, height and body mass of children before intervention and after interventional for 3 months in every group.RESULTS: Because of lose of samples and detective technology, only 580 children' examination results were got by rechecking. ①Comparison of the prevalence rate of VADD of children in every group: Three months supplementation later, the prevalence of VADD in every group all decreased sig nificantly [1.48%,1.42%,1.21%, 2.16% ;6.78%,6.54%,8.61%,8.25%(χ2=3.86-8.57, P ＜ 0.05-0.01 )]. ②Comparison of serum retinal, serum prealbumin, serum retinal binding protein, haematoglobin, height and body mass of children of every group: After supplement for 3 months, except prealbumin and haematoglobin in the 30% recommended intake group ,other indexes in each group all increased significantly (t=2.52-37.44, P＜ 0.05-0.01 ). The increase of serum vitamin A in the 20 000 IU group was larger than that in the other groups (F=4.62,P＜ 0.01 ). The increases of haematoglobin, prealbumin and height in the 30% recommended intake group were less than those in the other groups (F=5.04-7.78 ,P ＜ 0.01 ).After supplement for 9 months, the increases of haematoglobin and prealbumin in the 30% recommended intake group were larger than those in the other groups (F= 11.62,10.21 ,P ＜ 0.01). The increase of serum retinal was still lower than that in the 20 000 IU group (F=4.21 ,P ＜ 0.01 ).CONCLUSION: Supplement with biscuits fortified with 3 different doses of vitamin A and capsule with 200 000 IU of vitamin A can improve obviously the nourished status of vitamin A and the level of ferrohemoglobin, in which 30% recommended intake and 100% recommended intake have small risk, and everyday supplement can maintain stably the level of vitamin A. That may be suitable for the long-term supplement for children, and the effect of 30% recommended intake was better than that of 100% recommended intake.

Effects of marginal vitamin A deficiency and intervention on learning and memory in young rats / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Previous studies have demonstrated that vitamin A and its active derivatives function as essential competence factors for long-term synaptic plasticity within the adult brain. But little is known if marginal vitamin A deficiency (MVAD) beginning from embryonic period affects the brain development and the ability of learning and memory in young rats. The aim of this study was to identify the effects of MVAD and vitamin A intervention (VAI) on learning, memory and the hippocampal CA1 long-term potentiation (LTP) in young rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Rats were divided into control, MVAD and VAI groups in this study. In control group (10 young rats) the dams and pups were fed with normal diet (VA 6500 IU/kg). In MVAD group (19 young rats) the dams and pups were fed with MVAD diet (VA 400 IU/kg). In VAI group (9 young rats) the dams were fed with MVAD diet and the pups were fed with normal diet from postnatal week 4. All the young rats were killed at the age of 7 weeks. During the last week of the experiment, the shuttle box active avoidance reaction tests were carried out. At week 7, the hippocampal CA1 LTP was detected by electrophysiological technique and relative intensity of fluorescence in cells in hippocampal slices was measured by confocal laser scanning microscopy labeled by fluo-3.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) The times to reach the learning standard in both VAI group (28.8 +/- 4.1) and MVAD group (45.6 +/- 12.1) were more than control group (17.1 +/- 4.4) (P < 0.01), and that of MVAD group was more than VAI group (P < 0.05) in active avoidance reaction tests. (2) The changes of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSP) slope for MVAD group (22.9% +/- 9.4%) and VAI group (29.5% +/- 13.7%) were less than that of control group (57.5% +/- 27.3%), respectively (P < 0.01). No significant difference was found between VAI and MVAD groups (P > 0.05). (3) No significant differences of relative intensity of fluorescence in cells were found among the three groups before the tetanus stimulation. However, the significantly low relative intensity of fluorescence in cells was seen in MVAD (65.1 +/- 17.0) and VAI (85.8 +/- 17.1) groups compared with control group (113.6 +/- 20.5) after the tetanus stimulation (P < 0.01), and that of VAI group was higher than that of MVAD group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>MVAD beginning from embryonic period impairs learning, memory and LTP in young rats. But the losses might not be reversible if the vitamin A supplementation is late especially missing the critical period of hippocampus development. According to the experimental data, it is speculated that vitamin A may modulate the influx of calcium ion to influence the LTP and lead to the change of learning and memory.</p>

EFFECTS OF MARGINAL VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY ON HIPPOCAMPAL CA1 LONG-TERM POTENTIATION IN YOUNG RATS / 营养学报

Objective:To study the effects of marginal vitamin A deficiency (MVAD) on the hippocampal CA1 long-term potentiation (LTP) in young rats. Methods:Six female rats were divided into two groups at random, three in MVAD group, three in control group. The rats were fed VA deficient diet (400IU VA/kg) and VA sufficient diet (6 500IU VA/kg) respectively since 3 w before coitus. Serum VA was assessed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The young rats were killed at D49. The hippocampal CA1 LTP was detected by electrophysiological technique and the ultrastructure of synapses was observed by electron microscope. Results:The changes of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSP) slope (25.4%?2.01%) in MVAD young rats aged 7 weeks were much lower than that in control group (57.5%?8.63%). The changes of slope of fEPSP induced by MVAD in young rats could be replenished after adding retinoic acid (P0.05). The curvature in synaptic interface of MVAD group was less than that of the MVAD supplemented RA group and the control. Conclusion:MVAD during embryonic and early postnatal period can directly impair the hippocampal CA1 LTP of young rats.